


A House to Let

by Lisafer



Series: The Dickens Arc [6]
Category: Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Dickens Arc, F/M, Romance, multi-gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-21
Updated: 2011-02-21
Packaged: 2017-10-15 20:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/164652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisafer/pseuds/Lisafer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kel's forced to search for new quarters, and Wyldon might have a solution. (Part of the Dickens Arc)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A House to Let

“My quarters have been reclaimed by the crown,” Kel said upon reading the royal scribe’s perfectly-written note. “With the influx of dignitaries coming to Corus for Prince Jasson’s wedding, they’ve had to reshuffle rooms.”

Wyldon took the letter from her, frowning slightly as he read. “This happened before the Progress, when Princess Shinkokami came to court with her entourage.”

“Did you get one of these letters?” She gestured to his stack of mail helplessly.

He shook his head. “I’m a member of the peerage, Keladry. They will evict the knights before they address my rooms.”

She snorted inelegantly, knowing how much a reaction like that irritated him. “So now I have –” she snatched the note from his hand and skimmed over it again. “I have four weeks to find a new home in Corus, or beg for border patrol.”

“The lists have been made for two months out,” Wyldon replied, turning back to the rest of his post. “You could be added to the month after, perhaps.”

“Wonderful.” She knew that there was no way Wyldon would shift things around, to boot. Not that she would ask for it.

He looked up, frowning again. “You’re welcome to stay here, Keladry.”

“You know there are a hundred reasons not to.”

“Such as?”

“Your daughters,” she replied. “They come and go as they please and likely wouldn’t take to finding me here, in sleeping in your bed.”

“You spend your time in my bed as it is,” he mused. “They could find you on any given occasion. We could simply tell them, of course.” One corner of his mouth twisted wryly.

“I’m not ready for that,” Kel replied; Wyldon knew better than to press the issue.

“There’s another possibility,” he said, folding his large hands in front of him. “You could stay in my townhouse.”

“You have a house here in the city?”

“These quarters are rather close for four daughters,” he said. “Vivenne and the girls often spent winters in the city. It’s been closed up since… well, since Margarry’s wedding, at least.”

“I shouldn’t,” Kel said with a grimace.

“Think about it,” he suggested. “You have only a month.”

~~

“No luck today?” Wyldon asked as Kel sat down in the mess hall. She liked that he ate with the ordinary, run-of-the-mill knights. She liked even more that the clatter of silverware and loud conversations made it easier to have a private one than if they were dining publically elsewhere.

“Not a bit,” she replied with a sigh. “There are over a dozen of us still looking for new lodgings, so it’s becoming a bit of a challenge.”

“Have you given thought to my offer?”

“Yes,” Kel said, drawing it out so it was a two-syllable word.

“However?”

“I can’t,” she replied, her voice low, to prevent anyone from overhearing. “It’s a generous offer, but I can’t be a kept woman. And I can’t afford to pay for a home like yours.”

“You haven’t even seen it. How do you know what I would charge a tenant?”

“You’re a simple man, but you have refined tastes. You choose the best materials; your rooms are decorated with lavishness compared to mine. I’ve been to Cavall. Can you tell me that your Corus home is any different in its luxury?”

He took a bite of his vegetables, chewing thoughtfully while Kel waited patiently. “It is relatively luxurious, in comparison to what a young knight would be accustomed to,” he admitted, after swallowing. “But I wouldn’t be losing anything, financially, by letting the house to you free of charge.”

“Free of charge?” Kel repeated, her eyes wide.

“It’s boarded up,” he said calmly. “I don’t have tenants. I’ve never wanted tenants – but I have no qualms with your staying there.”

“You might not lose anything in the exchange,” she said quietly, “but I would lose my dignity and self-respect. You have to understand that.”

“What if I were to stay there, as well?” he suggested, his voice pitched even lower. “We spend every night together when we’re both in the city.”

“But some of those nights – almost half – are spent in my quarters. I need a place that’s mine.” She studied his frown, and something dawned on her. “You don’t like the idea of charging me because I’m a woman,” she accused. “You want to take care of me.”

His fork dropped with a surprising clatter and he pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes clenched shut. “Keladry, don’t make this mean more than it does.”

“And what _does_ it mean?” she asked, her voice deceptively calm.

“It means I want to help you. I want to ease your burden and share what I have with you.”

“What if this,” she gestured to him and back to herself, “ends?”

He picked up his fork again, pushing potatoes around on his plate and not looking at her. “I didn’t realize that was as large a concern as it apparently is.”

“Be practical, Wyldon,” Kel insisted. “I’m not saying it will happen, but what if it does? If I’m not paying you, it makes a terrible situation even worse.”

His left hand crept forward across the table, his curled fingers brushing against her fingertips. Other than a kiss in a vacant hallway, at the dawn of their relationship, this was the closest to a possible public demonstration of affection that he had ever reached. “There is an easy solution to this,” he said, his dark eyes fixed on hers finally.

“Don’t,” she whispered, her mouth going dry. They’d never outright discussed marriage, but had danced around the topic before. Kel was still wary of her own fickle nature, and was almost as mistrustful of Wyldon’s steadfastness. Marriage was second-nature to a man like him; what if he realized too late that it was marriage he wanted and not Kel? “I should keep looking,” she said, with full confidence that she could end a conversation as easily as he could.

~~

“Lord Wyldon tells me you won’t take up his offer to stay in his house in town,” Owen said two nights later, while their old study group – fractured, but constant – were in one of the libraries working on their language skills. They were all well-versed in Scanran and Yamani, due to the political climate, but now the fashion was Kyprish.

Neal looked at her, arching one eyebrow. He alone of their group knew that the relationship between Kel and Wyldon was more than that of a mentor and his student.

“Why was it brought up?” Kel asked. She kept her calm voice and expression, but on the inside she was declaring war against her lover.

Owen shrugged. “I was telling him about all the displaced knights, and said that you were still looking for quarters. I don’t see why you turned him down.”

“Yes, Kel,” Neal said, his voice overly easy. “Why wouldn’t you take up a stellar offer like that?”

Merric, in agreement with their friends, simply raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question.

“There’s enough talk as it is,” she said. “And I can’t afford an entire house – I just need a couple of rooms.”

Faleron jotted an address down on a piece of paper. “Here’s a place that has rooms available. I’ll be moving there, come next week.”

Kel took the note, her stomach sinking. How could she take these rooms without explaining to Faleron exactly why Wyldon might come and go on a regular basis? “This is on Gold Street,” she said after glancing at the address. “My purse isn’t quite heavy enough for that neighborhood.”

Neal studied her thoughtfully. “You can always stay with us until you find a place.”

“That’s kind, but I’ve got to sort it out on my own,” Kel said. “I can always join my family, if absolutely necessary. And request border patrol.”

Merric snorted. “I tried that one. Who do you have to sleep with to get a decent break around here? Lord Wyldon told me the lists were already drawn and not changeable.”

“I really don’t think canoodling with the Stump would give you an advantage,” Neal said, smirking, “even if he were to your liking. He’s too fair when it comes to distributing work.”

Kel kicked him under the table, and was given a mischievous grin in response.

“It’s true,” Owen said glumly. “I requested patrol last month and he wouldn’t give me the time of day. And I’m his own son-in-law.”

“And you’re competing with two other sons-in-law who are knights,” Kel said dryly.

“Well, yes – but still!”

“Since when do you know so much about the Cavall clan?” Merric asked Kel, a little too much accusation in his voice for her comfort.

Neal rescued her. “Don’t be like the court gossips, Merric. Everyone knows they’ve become friends – you don’t have to make it sound like there’s something more going on.”

“Besides,” Faleron pointed out, “if there were something going on, he would’ve granted Kel’s wish for border patrol to get out of this mess.”

Kel laughed along with the others, but her heart wasn’t in it.

~~

They hadn’t made love in nearly two weeks. It wasn’t as though their physical affection had been nearly as ardent as it was in the beginning of their relationship, when it was so crucial to affirm their attraction any time they were alone together. But it was noticeable now, and that was enough to drive Kel crazy.

“You’re not carrying as much tension in your neck,” he said that night, when they were lying in her bed. She was face down in her pillow as he massaged her neck. It felt more functional than sensual.

“I’ve found a room to rent,” she said, turning her head to the side so she could see him.

His hand weighed heavily on her when he stopped massaging. “Where will you be?”

“It’s not far from the temple district,” she replied. “A small, humble place. Airy enough for the sparrows – room enough for Jump and me. Stabling for Peachblossom and Hoshi.”

“And what of Tobe?”

“He’s been working with Stefan for a long time,” she said. “It will be like when I’m assigned elsewhere; he’ll stay here and fret, and I’ll check on him as soon as I return.”

He nodded once, brusquely.

“There’s something you’re not saying,” she said, rolling onto her back so she could look at him more easily.

Silence was her answer.

“It’s easier this way,” she insisted. “We can continue as we are, and have our relative freedom.”

“And what if your definition of freedom differs from mine?” he asked frostily.

She didn’t know what to say to him; it was clear that they were on different pages of the same book.

“My father once told me,” he began hesitantly, “that if you need to keep your actions secret, it probably means it’s something you shouldn’t be doing.”

“You think I’m ashamed of us?”

“I don’t know what to think.” He sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. “I’m not sure you realize how difficult this is. I struggle not to let my preference for you affect the way I handle my duties. While I’m not in direct command, my work does affect you, and I do everything within my power to remain impartial. I don’t throw my weight around to help you because it would be improper.

“But here I am with something that’s useful to you, and you won’t accept my assistance. You’re too caught up in worries about inequity and indebtedness to realize that I love you and want to help you.”

Kel digested his words carefully, noting that his face and voice seemed to show his age more than they ever had before. “I didn’t think about how this relationship affected you day in and day out,” she said, taking his hand.

He swallowed thickly. “Do you remember the letters I gave you in Cavall?”

How could she forget? He’d written a dozen letters to her over several months, but hadn’t been confident or comfortable enough in their relationship to send them to her. That stack of papers was precious to her. “Of course.”

“I told you that the worst thing in Vivenne’s death was my inability to do anything that would help – to help her, to ease my daughters’ pain. And now I have the ability to do something to make your life easier, and it was rejected immediately.”

“I explained why, Wyldon.”

“I know,” he said. “Your reasons are valid – they’re logical and practical.”

“But practicality has a way of stomping on emotions,” she whispered.

He nodded once and shifted in bed, no longer propping himself up on his elbow to look down at her. Instead he lied on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“You know I love you,” she said softly. The words were often implied, but never said so directly.

“I do,” he answered gruffly. He turned his head to look at her, moonlight reflected in his brown eyes. “I do now,” he said, softening.

She kissed him sweetly, one hand resting on his cheek. “We can tell your daughters, if you’d like,” she said softly, when he broke the kiss.

He shook his head, stroking her arm tenderly. “Maybe it’s better to wait, just a bit longer. Maybe when you’re back from border patrol.”

She couldn’t prevent a wry grin from crossing her face. “I thought you weren’t assigning me to patrol.”

“Not immediately,” he said. “But I’m to head up to Northwatch for a few months, and it happens to coincide with your patrol in that area.”

“You can’t bear being away from me for so long?” she asked.

“Well, it won’t be like this,” he said, his hand slipping down to her hip. “But it will be nice to see you, occasionally. And then afterward, maybe, it will be a better time for us to tell people – family – about us.”


End file.
